7 Lessons after travelling to 70 Countries

Aayush Shrivastava RKMV, 2002 (Class XII)

The 30th session of the Praktani Adda was a page from Mark Twain's diary, with the words "One Must Travel to Learn" scribbled in gold letters. Aayush, the Adda speaker, works for Medtronic as a Marketing Manager at Spine, Canada, where he oversees the strategic marketing of a new product group (spinal implants, robotics, and artificial intelligence).

Before this, he was in charge of a $100 million business portfolio spread across 102 countries. Through his work, he hopes to improve the lives of every patient. Aayush Shrivastava graduated from Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith in 2002 and then studied at IIT Kharagpur.

Aayush, who believes in following his heart rather than his brain when making decisions, went on to pursue an MBA from IIM Kolkata. According to him, the session is a sort of revelation that he attained by traveling to various countries. Even the adda was all about his (mis)adventures across countries and continents, which shaped him into a better person over time.

As many of us wish to travel the world, either alone or with others, to get to know ourselves better, to get lost in the beauty of this earth, to have our minds blown, to learn about other cultures, people, music, food, and so on, because, as someone rightly said, "In the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn." Climb that dang mountain!" - John Kerouac

During the adda, Aayush shared interesting facts about his global journey to allow us a glimpse into his inner journey. Specifically, seven lessons that were learned from his travels to 70 countries.

In his own words, the journey included sneaking out of the tour group to interact with schoolchildren in Pyongyang and breaking his stereotypes by drinking alcohol in a remote village 250 kilometers south of Tehran.

During one of his travels, he became stranded alone for the night in a million-dollar plane owned by a legendary rock star in Memphis. During the adda, Aayush shares stories, some of his own and others he met, and summarise his years of experience into seven simple lessons that have helped him navigate his day-to-day personal and professional life.